Kaden Groves won stage six of the Giro d’Italia on a day of heavy disruption, with GC contender Jai Hindley among several riders forced to abandon the race after a nasty crash.
Milan Fretin of Cofidis and Paul Magnier of Soudal Quick-Step rounded out the podium in Naples after the longest stage of this year’s a race, a 226km ride from Potenza.
A two-man breakaway of Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) and Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarche-Wanty) spent 192km at the front of the race and fought until the end, but were eventually swamped with just 2.5km remaining and a reduced bunch contested the sprint for the line.
“Big relief [to win],” Alpecin-Deceuninck rider Groves said of his emotions after the stage. “The team always believes in me and it’s not been a great start to the season, I arrived here without a win [in 2025] so to get the first one is a big relief.”
The weather played havoc as the heavens opened partway through the stage, with more rain forecast for the finish in Naples.
The race was neutralised after a serious crash with around 70km to go on wet, slippery roads, with 2022 winner Hindley, Intermarchy-Wanty’s Dion Smith and Alpecin-Deceuninck rider Juri Hollmann all abandoning as a result of their injuries.
Hindley, a key domestique for race favourite Primoz Roglic, was helped into an ambulance and escorted to hospital with a suspected concussion after hitting the deck heavily at the front of the peloton.
The maglia rosa of Mads Pedersen, Richard Carapaz, Derek Gee, and Lorenzo Fortunato were among several other riders involved in the crash but they all managed to continue.
The race was temporarily stopped while the race directors and UCI commissaires discussed whether to continue with the stage or not. A decision was ultimately made to continue but with no points or bonus seconds awarded from the moment of the crash onwards, and all GC times neutralised at the time of the crash.
The day’s Red Bull kilometre had no points as a result and none were awarded in the points classification at the finish, although the stage win itself was contested.
The decision to award every rider the same time meant there would be no changes to the overall standings and Pedersen and a large group made the decision not to contest the stage win in order to stay safe, dropping back and finishing 10 minutes down.
He retains the race lead by 17 seconds over Roglic, with his Lidl-Trek teammate Mathias Vacek 24 seconds back in third overall.
Stage six results
1) Kaden Groves (Alpecin – Deceuninck), in 4:59:52
2) Milan Fretin (Cofidis)
3) Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step)
4) Max Kanter (XDS Astana)
5) Giovanni Lonardi (Polti VisitMalta)
6) Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling)
7) Martin Marcellusi (VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizane)
8) Luca Mozzato (Arkéa – B&B Hotels)
9) Matevz Govekar (Bahrain – Victorious)
10) Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike), all at same time
General classification standings
1) Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), in 20:11:44
2) Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +17”
3) Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) +24”
4) Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +31”
5) Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +32”
6) Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +35”
7) Max Poole (Team Picnic PostNL) +43”
8) Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +44”
9) Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +46”
10) Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +50”
